Out of Two, One New Man

Juliet: 'Tis but thy name that is my enemy.(40)
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? That which we call a rose(45)
By any other name would smell as sweet.  
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name;
And for that name, which is no part of thee,(50)
Take all myself.


Romeo:  I take thee at thy word.
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptiz'd;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo. taken from enotes

So what is in a name?  Is what you name your child of any import?  If you just like a name, yet it means something bad, does it make any difference?  Take, for instance,

Persephone - "Bringer of Destruction;" now one might argue that that may be true introducing a toddler into your otherwise orderly life... or perhaps one of today's most popular boy's names (#9 on the Social Security's list - and who better to know, eh?), Aiden: "Little Fire."  We parents know that boys spark more than a few flames in their raising and we pray every day to contain that little fire to be used for good and not destruction. 

There are some very unique names be given to children today, just as they were in the Old Testament, where it seems like every name given in the Old Testament means something way deeper than just a parents' whimsical fancy.  Often they were given names to reflect what the current state of the mother was, as you will see later when I tell you what Rachel named her last child.  Sometimes these names were prophetic, as you will see in the name Jacob. 

The Lord sidetracked me this morning on names.  I was actually on Chapter 8 of Seeing Christ in the Tabernacle, when I lingered on the meaning of the name Levi, joined together, - did his mother know when she gave birth to Levi that the Levitical priesthood would spring forth from her son?  So I decided to check it out.  I do hope that you will be able to follow my convoluted discoveries as I piece them out for you and think you will be as blown away as I was to see just how perfectly Christ IS revealed in the Old Testament.  In hindsight, we can see that all along God was revealing what He would do in Christ to reconcile man to Himself.

I remembered that Levi was Jacob's son and that somewhere in the Bible (turns out it's Genesis 49) Jacob prophesied over his sons, so I started there.

And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days."

I found Levi in verse 5.  "Simeon and Levi are brethren."  Wow.  I thought all 12 sons were brethren, why are they singled out as brethren?  Were they close?  Were they Rachel's children or Leah's, or their servants?  Well, if Levi means joined together what does Simeon mean and why was he named that?  So, I made this chronology of the sons of Jacob and what I discovered was a perfect shadow of what would happen in the last days (when Christ "finished" the work) to the Jew and the Gentile.  It is a beautiful picture of Ephesians 2:13-18:

But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.

Let's begin with Jacob.  Remember Jacob?  He's the son of Isaac, who served his uncle Laban 7 years to marry Rachel.   Remember that Jacob deceived his father Isaac by pretending to be Esau in order to receive Isaac's blessing.  Evidently what we reap, we do sow, for when Jacob awoke after consummating his wedding vows, he discovered he had been deceived and it was Leah (the older daughter of Laban), he had wed, not Rachel.  I can just picture Laban laughing to himself thinking, "that young whippersnapper Jacob wants to do everything his way - well, I'll show him - it's our custom the older daughter always marries first - I'll veil [take note! veiled?] his bride, then make him work another 7 years to get what he desires - Rachel. [7 years of tribulation?]" Note that Leah was chosen BY HER FATHER, not by Jacob; just as Jesus proclaims, "all that the Father gives me, will come to me"  John 6:37.  Our wedding to Christ is veiled.  It is a mystery. 

My thoughts are in brackets.  First, I discover from Genesis 49:5 that Simeon and Levi are brethren [could this be Jew & Gentile?].  But Jacob goes on to prophecy, "instruments of cruelty are in their habitations, O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, BE NOT THOU UNITED: for in their anger they slew a man [Christ] and in their self-will they brought disaster upon themselves.  Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel:  I will divide them in Jacob [the flesh], and scatter them in Israel. 

I started seeing a picture of the separation of Jew and Gentile.  We were all wrought in sin.  But at some point, God separated out the Jew, "chose him," in order to bring judgement upon that sin.  So I look up the name Simeon.  Turns out it means, "God has heard that I am unloved!"  What a picture of the Gentiles.  Read again Ephesians 2.  The Gentiles were outside the law.  No hope of their sin being done away with for they had no instrument of judgement.  Or did they? 

So let me elaborate on the naming of Jacob's children and their order for that is so important!  Genesis 29 starts the story of their births, if you want to read them yourself.

First, God opens the womb of Leah. 

Her first son is Reuben, "the Lord has seen my misery!"  What misery?  That she is UNLOVED.  She's desperate for love; as we are desperate for God's.  She is outside the covenant made with Jacob-Rachel, as the Gentile was outside the covenant made with God and the Jews. 

Her second son is Simeon, "the Lord has heard that I am unloved!  This naming is no surprise to God - it is part of His plan.  Here I study a little more about the name Simeon.  Does his name sound familiar to you?  Yes!  Luke 2:25-38 tells us about Simeon of the New Testament,

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.  It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.  Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required,  Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
  “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
   you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
  which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
   and the glory of your people Israel.”
  The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,  so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

And isn't it incredible that there were two witnesses right from the get-go?  Simeon, above, and Anna the Prophetess!

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher [remember this, for this is one of Jacob's sons!].  She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,  and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.  Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Simeon, denoted in Gen. 49:5 as the "brethren of Levi" reveals the veiled purpose of God's plan:  a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel!  

Next, Leah bears her third son, Levi, "the Lord will join me to my husband!"  Here, the Gentile rejoices!  and sure enough,

Leah bears her fourth son, Judah, "this time I will praise the Lord!"  and, of course, Jesus was the Lion or the husband from the tribe of Judah.  Praise the Lord. 

But all this time, Rachel [the Jews] is watching Leah bear many sons to Jacob.  Genesis 30:1-2 sent shudders down my spine. 

And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied HER SISTER; and said unto Jacob [God], 'Give me children or else I die!'    And Jacob's [God] anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, 'Am I in God's stead, who has withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? [Jesus]'"

and so she gave him her servant girl, Bilhah, by whom Jacob has his 5th son - Dan, whose name means "vindicated," or "God is my judge."  And of course, we all are familiar with that other Daniel spoken of in the Bible:  remember, the one who was told in Daniel ch. 9:

Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end.  Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.

Then Bilhah gave Jacob his 6th son, Naphtali, "my struggle."  For since the veiling of the bride of Jacob, Israel has struggled with division. 

So now both Leah and Rachel have born children - one through her own body, own through the servant girl.  Now it is Leah's turn to catch up, though she seems to be going through a "barren" period.  She gives Jacob her servant girl, Zilpah. 

Zilpah [again, if you follow my logic, the lineage of the Gentile] bears Jacob's 7th son, Gad, "good fortune!"

Then another son, the progenitor of Anna the prophetess - Asher, "happy!"  And oh happy day.  Cadence, you know what I'm talking about!

Leah bears Jacob's 9th son, Issachar, "reward."

Then his 10th son, Zebulun, "honor."

And lest we women be disheartened, she bears now a daughter, Dinah, "justified."  As Anna witnessed the salvation of Israel in Jesus, Mary Magdelene witnessed the resurrected savior, Dinah bears witness that in Christ we are justified - in fact, verifying Levi's testimony, "joined to our husband," incidentally the curse given to Eve, "your desire shall be to your husband."  Not really a curse, because again, this pointed to Christ!

And that completes the Gentile line, if I am allowed that interpretation.

And then Rachel herself bears Jacob's 9th son, Joseph, which some resources said means, "may he add", but my bible (NKJ) reads, "the Lord shall add to me another son."  Interestingly enough, in Genesis 30:22 the word says, "and God remembered Rachel, and hearkened to her."  Now Rachel rejoices that God has added a son to HER!  Her jealousy has been resolved and she bears a son. But I perhaps erroneously thought, interesting that she is not satisfied - she proclaims the Lord shall add to her another son.  And I thought of Jesus' words in John 5:43,

I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.

I start to see that we were ALL dead in our sins - we were ONE in that, but CHRIST came to divide and divide He did.  Through the law.  The Jews were chosen to be that vehicle by which sin was revealed and chosen to bring forth the Messiah through whom sin would be judged.  Israel, like my sister Leslie said, is precious to God because Israel is the womb of salvation.  How absolutely precious Israel and the Jews are to us. 

But now we are no longer one in our sins.  The Jews have a vehicle of salvation - NOT through the perfect keeping of the law but through the sacrificial system that accepts a substitute for the wrath of God upon sin.  A scapegoat.  But Paul reminds the Jews, "It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." Heb. 10:4.  WHAT? Are you telling us we are NOT righteous?  Jealousy.  So Paul clarifies that those aren't his words, but God's, in Heb. 10:5-7,

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;  with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.  Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, my God.’ 

What exactly was his will?  To provoke the Jews to jealousy.  As I see it the revelation to the Gentiles Simeon spoke of causes the Jews to be cut off.  Not because God hates them, but BECAUSE HE IS MAKING ONE NEW MAN.  The Jews, who began the same way as the Gentiles - dead in their sins - must now be grafted in, just as were the Gentiles, to that true Branch - the Messiah - the GLORY OF YOUR PEOPLE ISRAEL!

But between Rachel having Joseph and bearing her last son to Jacob, God causes Jacob to prosper, and because of this he must flee Laban's wrath, and he is reconciled to Esau (whom God had hated!).  And the sequence then blows me away because in Genesis 35:9 God appears once again to Jacob and blessed him. 

Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name...I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply...." 

as if this is the point of Israel's grafting back in.  For in Benjamin's  (Jacob's last child) birth, Rachel DIES [Israel the nation believes!] naming him Ben Oni, meaning the son of trouble [or perhaps the time of Jacob's trouble], but Jacob RENAMES him Benjamin, meaning the son of my right hand!

To me this is such a beautiful picture of God the Father sending his Son to redeem sinners, to make out of two, one new man.  For as it is said in Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."  Jesus has torn down that wall of partition between all, most importantly between us and God and we have been all given a new name.  No longer do we worry if our name means something negative for God has reversed it.  Praise God!

See chart.